Requirements for Airline Cadet Program Candidates
For candidates, airlines have few if any requirements on nationality, place of residence, gender, education, work experience, degree, school performance and etc. If you compare the requirements for a management trainee program in a big company, you will find the things airline ask for is just essential. But the number of people airline recruit is a lot more than the number of management trainee... and I don't see the need to compare their starting salaries...
But this does not mean it is easy to get into airline. Actually, airline pilot selection is one of the most, if not THE most, rigorous selection procedure you can find. Then what are the criteria airlines use to select their new hires?
The answer to this question is, instead of appearance, education or other external factors, airline value more about professional knowledge and people skill. To be specific, the professional knowledge in flying theories, planes and flight environment and stress management under pressure, management and control of multiple tasks and accurate communication. In other words, the airline selection is structured around its professional knowledge and skill needs and the criteria are to test how passionate and committed the candidates are, how much efforts the candidates contributed and how their psychological development is.
Concretely speaking, the basic requirements to be an airline pilot include:
Age & gender: between 18 to 35. There is NO discrimination in genders. So male and female have the same opportunities;
Vision: The current normative on pilots affirms that "If normal sights can be restored with the help of lenses or glasses, visual defects are not a impediment for becoming a pilot". This means that you can become a pilot if you suffer from visual defects that can be corrected by glasses or lenses. Astigmatism, Hyperopic (long sightedness), Presbyopia and Myopia are not cause for pilot rejection.
LASIK or laser operation: Pay attention though not to do a LASIK
But this does not mean it is easy to get into airline. Actually, airline pilot selection is one of the most, if not THE most, rigorous selection procedure you can find. Then what are the criteria airlines use to select their new hires?
The answer to this question is, instead of appearance, education or other external factors, airline value more about professional knowledge and people skill. To be specific, the professional knowledge in flying theories, planes and flight environment and stress management under pressure, management and control of multiple tasks and accurate communication. In other words, the airline selection is structured around its professional knowledge and skill needs and the criteria are to test how passionate and committed the candidates are, how much efforts the candidates contributed and how their psychological development is.
Concretely speaking, the basic requirements to be an airline pilot include:
Age & gender: between 18 to 35. There is NO discrimination in genders. So male and female have the same opportunities;
Vision: The current normative on pilots affirms that "If normal sights can be restored with the help of lenses or glasses, visual defects are not a impediment for becoming a pilot". This means that you can become a pilot if you suffer from visual defects that can be corrected by glasses or lenses. Astigmatism, Hyperopic (long sightedness), Presbyopia and Myopia are not cause for pilot rejection.
LASIK or laser operation: Pay attention though not to do a LASIK